by Van Beacham
Before We Get to the Fishing
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Click below to view the first of many video reports
that will be coming your way this year:
Cimarron River / Holy Water
A beautiful “wild” Holy Water rainbow
Cimarron River: Flow – 16 cfs, Water temperature – 56 to 62 degrees. Most any good nymph or scud pattern will work when bounced off the bottom in the upper sections. If the water stays low and fairly clear fish will be spooky but dry fly fishing can be quite good with PMDs hatching mid-morning and other assorted mayflies hatching during the day, including ginger duns in the afternoon and evening. We should start seeing golden stones hatching any time now. The next few weeks will be the best dry fly fishing of the year on the Cimarron. Nice fish also come to the surface for midges and small mayflies in the beaver ponds, especially if it’s cloudy or late evening.
While the entire river can be good, the best fishing is on our exclusive private stretch known as the “Holy Water.” In this ¾ mile stretch directly below Eagle Nest Dam, the water is richer and the fish are larger (due to less pressure and C&R only flyfishing by reservation). There are a ton of wild cutbows and rainbows that just started taking hold during the last drought and some are getting big.
We also have a beautiful Hacienda and rustic cabins on the property available for overnight rentals.
Call us today to book a trip or reserve accommodations
1-866-502-1700 or fish@thesolitaryangler.com
Rio Grande Gorge and Lower Tributaries Not Too Bad
While the run-off has been far below normal, making for some great conditions on the Rio Grande, the “fabled” spring Rio Grande Caddis hatch was pretty much a bust this year. However, fishing hasn’t been too bad. The sparse hatch meant that fish had to feed for longer periods to get the same amount of food, resulting in more opportunities, but I never witnessed a surface feeding frenzy or anything like that. The fish below the Red River to John Dunn Bridge seem to still be averaging only about 10 inches; probably still recovering from the great flood of 2009 on the Red River that killed most fish in the Red and the Rio Grande for several miles downstream. Above the Red River the Rio is a little clearer and the fish are bigger.
Rio Grande: Flow at Cerro 204 cfs, below Taos Junction Bridge 440 cfs. The water is clearer the higher you go. Some of the standard olive caddis are still hatching but micro caddis are hatching in abundance. Use a standard dark olive elk hair caddis, size 14-18 by itself if they are rising. If they aren’t rising attach a dropper about 18 to 24 inches long and attach your favorite caddis pupa or wet fly. Look for rises in the riffles, foam lines, pockets and along the edge of rocks and the river bank. If you see a fish rise but can’t get them to hit your fly, try skittering your caddis in front of the rise.
Nymph fishing with double hackles, stone flies, crane flies and Miller caterpillars can be very productive when fish aren’t on the surface. Look for late evening and night time action using white and brown Millers. Skitter them on the surface in the riffles.
Don’t hesitate to call us for current conditions and up-to-date forecasts 1-866-502-1700.
A nice cutbow that ate an elk hair caddis at Arsenic Springs
The Rio Grande is one of the most difficult rivers to understand, making a guide from the Solitary Angler invaluable.
Don’t put it off; call us now to book before it’s too late! Space is very limited due to permit restrictions.
Call or email us today!
Book Now! fish@thesolitaryangler.com
or 1-866-502-1700
Lower Red River
Red River at La Junta
Lower Red River: Flow – 129 cfs. The lower Red seems to have leveled off but there is still a bit of snow on the high north faces so it may be another week or two before it drops enough for good fly fishing. There are tons of cased caddis in the river still, indicating good caddis hatches yet to come, so look for it to get good over the next two weeks.
Sangre de Cristo Mountain Lakes and Streams
While most of the streams flowing out of the Sangre de Cristos are still a little high from run-off there are places to fish with success. Just pick your favorite one and drive upstream until you find fishable water. Try any kind of good floating dry fly including small hoppers and drop any medium size bead head nymph off of it. Try some nymphs with a high stick nymphing technique in the deep holes but one of your flies should be a San Juan worm, especially if the water is off color. If nothing works try stripping a small wooly bugger.
Rio Costilla Park
Rio Costilla at Rio Costilla Park: Flow – below dam 42 cfs, near Costilla 69 cfs. The flows were perfect and fishing was pretty good until three days ago when they turned the river up at Costilla Dam. The river is higher now but still fairly clear. Expect flows to continue for the foreseeable future. Try medium to large dries with any sinking nymph. Also try small streamers stripped through the deep holes.
Late Spring Fishing on Culebra Creek – A Mixed Bag
Connie Gaunt with a nice Culebra brown
Culebra Creek: Water flow 26 cfs out of the reservoir, 46 cfs down low. Water temperature 54 to 64 degrees. Depending on who you talk to, the spring fishing on Culebra Creek has been poor to fantastic. And they’d all be right. All agree that there are big fish to be caught though! As with most fly fishing it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. For a couple of weeks the reservoir was off but daily fluctuations from runoff had fish feeding aggressively as the creek was rising until it dropped towards the end of the day. Then fluctuations from runoff began declining as the snow melted. Now with the reservoir lower than it has been in many years, they seem to be only releasing up to 26 cfs from the dam for senior water users downstream for a few days at a time. So if this pattern continues, expect good but not high flows when they are releasing water, but it may stay a little off color due to silt flushing out of the very low reservoir. So far it has not been too bad; in fact it makes the fish a little less spooky with higher flows and some turbidity.
When they are releasing try leaches, crane fly larva, San Juan worms, small mayfly nymphs, medium size golden stone nymphs, copper Johns and woolly buggers. For dries try PMDs, ginger duns, Adams’ irresistible, medium size stimulators and even small hoppers, which have been out already. When they aren’t releasing try small nymphs like hares ears, micro mayflies, midge pupa and larva and small dries and even some larger dries like PMDs, golden stones and small hoppers. In low, gin clear water use 6x tippet and longer (9 to 11 feet) leaders.
If you are a Member of the Solitary Angling Club you can just call and reserve your section and go fish. If you aren’t a Member of the Club, you need to call us today and either join the Solitary Angling Club or book a guided trip for this spring or summer!!
1-866-502-1700
OR
Contact van@thesolitaryangler.com to get an application to join the SAC!
We are running an Introductory Special – only until May 31st!
Only a Few Left!
Get your guides and supplies at Tailwater Gallery & Flyshop. We are located at 204 B Paseo del Pueblo Norte, one block north of the Plaza (right across from Kit Carson Park) in Taos, New Mexico. Please drop in next time you’re in town. Open 9 to 5 six days.
